Global peace in Islamic perspective (lll)

Also published in Daily Trust

Anyway, though, Muslim scholars and intellectuals around the world are indeed making commendable efforts to counter the wrong religious interpretations that breed extremism and terrorism, more needs to be done to check the activities of such terror theorists who still indoctrinate innocent Muslims and turn them into terrorists.

While doing this, however, caution should be observed, lest the counter-extremism efforts unnecessarily compromise some Islamic principles, basic teachings or moral values. After all, there is a growing trend in this regard, as some Muslim intellectuals and thinkers who are apparently intimidated by the global dominance of the so-called liberal culture seem rather ashamed to present, defend and promote Islamic perspectives that contradict such so-called liberal culture, for fear of being branded religious extremists.

Besides, under the influence of the already subjectively defined concept of tolerance, such supposed Muslim intellectuals are hell-bent on twisting the meanings of some Qur’anic verses and some authentic prophetic hadiths, and/or casting doubt on their authenticity, no matter how authentic, and, of course, blatantly rejecting any viewpoint of Muslim scholars, no matter how reasonable, in their desperate but futile attempts to reconcile their preconceived and subjective opinions with the Qur’an and/ or prophetic hadiths.

It’s very unfortunate that, due to the sheer amount of media coverage, encouragement and support accorded to such purported Muslim intellectuals, on the one hand, and the growing activities of religious extremists in the absence of adequately concerted efforts by competent Muslim scholars, governments and organizations to counter this phenomenon, on the other, many Muslims are left at the mercy of these two extremes. Consequently, many of them unconsciously drift towards either religious extremism that breeds terrorism, or liberal extremism that leads to the denial of the role of Islamic religion in many aspects of modern human life.

This, therefore, underscores the need to uphold and promote religious moderation among Muslims, by encouraging the dissemination of the authentic Islamic knowledge as contained in the noble Qur’an and the authentic prophetic Sunnah, according to the perception of the pious predecessors i.e. Assalaf-Assaleh, particularly the prophet’s noble companions who, having witnessed the era and the circumstances of the Wahy i.e. the revelation, and learned the religion directly from the messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), were obviously in a better position to have better perception about the religion, its mission and how it pursues it.

Moreover, they were collectively the perfect embodiment of Islamic religion, having provided the perfect example of moderation in religiosity and the approach in Da’awah and other religious activities for the successive Muslim generations to emulate, as Allah the Almighty maintains: ‘Those who follow the Messenger, the prophet who can neither read nor write (i.e. Muhammad (PBUH) whom they find written with them in the Taurat (Torah) (Deut xviii 15) and the Injeel (Gospel) (John xiv, 16) -he commands them for Al-ma’ruf (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam has ordained); and forbids them from Al-munkar (i.e. disbelief, polytheism of all kinds, and all that Islam has forbidden); he allows them as lawful At-tayyibat (i.e. all good and lawful as regards things, deed, beliefs, persons, foods), and prohibits as unlawful Al-khaba’ith (i.e. all evil and unlawful as regards things, deed, beliefs, persons and foods), he releases them from their heavy burdens (of Allah’s Covenant with the children of Israel), and from the fetters (bindings) that were upon them. So those who believe in him (Muhammad PBUH), honour him, help him, and follow the light (the Qur’an) which has been sent down with him, it is they who will be successful) (The Noble Qur’an, Surah 7, Al-A’raf (The Heights or the Wall with Elevations), Verse 157).

Allah the Almighty also says ‘ And strive hard in Allah’s Cause as you ought to strive (with sincerity and with all your efforts that His Name should be superior). He has chosen you (to convey His Message of Islamic Monotheism to mankind by inviting them to His religion of Islam), and has not laid upon in religion any hardship….) (The Noble Qur’an, Surah 22, Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage), Verse 78).

   

Accordingly, in order to successfully check the proliferation of wrong interpretations of Qur’anic verses and prophetic hadiths, which breed extremism and terrorism, Muslim scholars, intellectuals and thinkers should focus more, and indeed always insist on referring to the authentic narrations of Assalaf-Assaleh’s interpretations of the Qur’anic verses and prophetic hadiths.

Meanwhile, the socio-political and economic circumstances that terror theorists often capitalize upon to indoctrinate the gullible and turn them into religious extremists and then terrorists, should also be adequately addressed. In this regard, Muslim governments need to maintain the principles of good governance and insist on enforcing the rule of law in their respective countries, which guarantees equal rights and also maintains equal obligations for their respective citizens.

This will certainly create a conducive and equitable socio-political and economic atmosphere for individuals to pursue their legitimate aspirations according to their capabilities and potential on an equal footing.

The foregoing, however, doesn’t downplay the imperative of taking whatever security measures necessary in order to prevent security threats under any pretext. There should also be adequate cooperation and coordination between countries to achieve this, particularly in intelligence gathering, sharing and utilization, especially considering the obvious disparity between various countries in terms of expertise and resources in this regard.       

To be continued………